Tag: chili

Romano Pepper Soup

Among all vegetables, peppers arguably have the most unique flavor! Romano peppers are sweeter and caramelize wonderfully when roasted, which makes them a great addition to a tomato-based soup, balancing its acidity and gaining depth in return.

If this isn’t enough, like most Italian soups this recipe makes use of the classic celery/carrot/onion soffritto both as a thickener and for its flavor. Again, roasting is key to cause browning and the development of the many aromatic compounds that go with it. 

The predictable addition of chili powder adds yet another layer of complexity and, of course, the nerve endings stimulus that we perceive as heat (please check out my very first podcast titled Salty and Spicy to hear more about the chemistry involved.)

Oh, this recipe happens to be vegan 🙂 Enjoy!

Romano Pepper Soup

Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Romano Pepper Soup

Ingredients

  • 1/4 onion, chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, sliced
  • 1 carrot, cubed
  • 2 red 'Romano' peppers, sliced
  • 200 g 'passata' strained tomatoes
  • 20 g tomato paste
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • chili powder
  • black pepper, ground

Preparation

  1. Roast the peppers in olive oil, with some salt, in a frying pan at medium heat until tender - 15 minutes (add a splash of water from time to time if the peppers start to burn).
  2. Meanwhile, roast the other veggies in olive oil for 10 minutes at high heat in a medium pot.
  3. Add the roasted peppers, the strained tomatoes, the tomato paste, and the veggie stock to the pot with the vegetables. Bring to a boil.
  4. Lower the heat and cook for 1/2 hr stirring from time to time.
  5. Strain the soup using a strainer or a food mill with a fine mesh.
  6. Re-add the strained soup to the pot and resume cooking for another 1/2 hr stirring occasionally.
  7. Add chili powder to taste and adjust the salt.
  8. Serve with a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper.
https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2020/10/romano-pepper-soup.html

Bell Pepper Pasta

Italians rarely get tired of a good tomato sauce, but when they do they often resort to a tomato sauce variation. This recipe is based on the simple addition of roasted bell peppers, and of chili for some heat. The resulting sauce is great on pasta, but it also doubles as a tasty dip for toasted bread. The peppers are sliced, roasted in olive oil and then added to a tomato base. If the skins are unwanted or if a smoother texture is desired, the cooked peppers can be strained in a food mill.

Bell Pepper Pasta

Yield: 2 servings

Total Time: 40 minutes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Bell Pepper Pasta

Ingredients

  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • 2 small bell peppers, red or yellow (seeded and sliced)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • half of a fresh chili (minced) or 1 teaspoon of chili flakes
  • 140 g dried pasta (e.g.: farfalle, fusilli, rigatoni)
  • a sprinkle of Parmigiano (freshly grated, optional)
  • salt

Preparation

  1. In a non-stick pan, roast the pepper in olive oil along with the fresh chili (if using it) for 5 minutes at high.
  2. Lower the heat, add the chili flakes (if using them) and cook for 15 minutes covered, adjust the salt.
  3. Strain the peppers in a food mill.
  4. Collect the pulp and discard the skins.
  5. Put the pepper purée back in the non-stick pan and add the tomato sauce.
  6. Cook for another 5 minutes to blend the flavors.
  7. Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salty water for the time indicated on the box.
  8. When the pasta is ready, drain it and serve it with the sauce and a sprinkle of grated Parmigiano (optional).

https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2011/08/bell-pepper-pasta.html

Tortiglioni all’Arrabbiata

Sugo* all’Arrabbiata is a classic pasta sauce from central/southern Italy that can be prepared very quickly, while the pasta cooks. This sauce is traditionally quite spicy, and this is at the origin of its name (all’arrabbiata, in Italian means ‘angry-style’). If desired, a milder version can be made, but a certain amount of heat is necessary to counter the acidity of the lightly cooked tomato and enhance its flavor. (*Sugo is another name for ‘salsa’, sauce.)

Tortiglioni all’Arrabbiata

Yield: 2 servings

Total Time: 20 minutes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Tortiglioni all’Arrabbiata

Ingredients

  • 500 g peeled diced tomatoes (fresh or from a quality can)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 chili pepper (whole or seeded if a milder sauce is desired), minced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • some fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced
  • 150 g dried short pasta (e.g.: tortiglioni, rigatoni, penne)
  • salt

Preparation

  1. Mince chili pepper and garlic (fig. 1).
  2. In a large non-stick pan, fry garlic and chili pepper in olive oil for 2 minutes (fig. 2).
  3. Add the diced tomatoes (fig. 3), cook at medium heat for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
  4. Boil the pasta in plenty of salty water for the time indicated on the box.
  5. Add the well drained pasta to the pan and toss for 1 minute at high heat (fig. 4).
  6. Take off the heat, sprinkle with parsley, serve immediately.

https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2011/07/tortiglioni-allarrabbiata.html

Home-Style Pizza

Unless you have a brick oven in your backyard, you can’t quite make pizzeria-style pizza at home; the regular kitchen oven simply can’t reach high enough temperatures. It is, however, possible to approximate the flavors of a pizzeria-style pizza by using a few expedients.

There is more than one way to make home-style pizza. A pizza stone, for instance, can work really well but it requires time and practice.  The method that I am about to describe makes use of a perforated pizza tray. I find it easier and quicker and the results, in my opinion, are comparable.

As usual with Italian cuisine, quality and simplicity of the ingredients are essential. Pre-made bread shells, pizza sauce, and pizza mozzarella must be avoided! Here is what you need:

Home-Style Pizza

Yield: 2 servings

Total Time: 30 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Home-Style Pizza

Ingredients

  • 1 perforated pizza pan
  • 450 g bread dough (from a bakery or bought frozen)
  • ¾ cup uncooked strained tomatoes (fresh or from a quality brand, e.g: Mutti, Pomì, Molisana)
  • 300 g fresh bocconcini mozzarella
  • some extra-virgin olive oil
  • one pinch of salt
  • one pinch of dried oregano (optional)
  • some fresh basil leaves (optional)
  • moderate amounts of your favorite toppings (I used capers and onions)

Preparation

  1. First, warm up the oven to 450 °F (240 °C). Allow 15 minutes for the oven to fully reach its temperature.
  2. Flatten the bread dough into a disc that fits the pan. The dough should feel fluffy and slightly elastic. If it's too elastic, give it some time to relax its gluten strands.
  3. Unless you are using a non-stick pan, coat the pan very lightly with some olive oil, then transfer the dough onto it (1).
  4. Add the strained tomatoes, a pinch of salt, the oregano and any toppings that need to be fully cooked, e.g.: onions, fresh mushrooms, peppers (2).
  5. Half-bake the pizza base for 7 minutes. This allows the dough to cook through, without the weight and moisture of the cheese.
  6. While the base cooks, chop the mozzarella in small bites and prepare any additional toppings that don't need to be fully cooked, e.g.: capers, olives, ham.
  7. Remove the pan from the oven (3) and quickly add the cheese and the remaining toppings. Put the pan back in the oven.
  8. When the cheese is completely bubbly and starting to brown in some spots (after about 7-8 minutes), the pizza is ready (4).
  9. Add a drizzle of olive oil or of chili oil (if desired) and the basil leaves, serve immediately.

Notes

The perforated pizza pan is essential to allow the dough to cook evenly without becoming crunchy. Its holes allow excess moisture and the CO2 produced by the leavening process to escape so that the dough can cook rapidly without forming bubbles. The thin aluminum allows the pan to match the temperature of the dough that lays on it, preventing any hardening.

https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2011/07/home-style-pizza.html

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino – The Staple Midnight Pasta

Aglio (pronounced ‘ah-llyo’), Olio e Peperoncino (Garlic, Oil and Chili Pepper) is one of the simplest and most popular Italian pasta sauces, and one of the most delicious. Its simplicity is unmatched for showcasing perfectly cooked, high-quality spaghetti, the cut of pasta that it best goes with. Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino is really more of a pasta dressing, rather than an actual sauce. And it’s perfect for when there is no time to make a sauce, for a midnight snack, or for unexpected guests.

Italian cuisine is based on quality – the more a dish is simple, the more it requires the best ingredients. And this is definitely the case with Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino.

Let’s start with the pasta: a typical serving of 70-80 grams per person of dried durum semolina spaghetti from a quality Italian brand (e.g.: Voiello, De Cecco, Barilla). It’s possible to use another cut of pasta – spaghetti could be replaced with linguine, but that’s pretty much as far as an Italian would push it. Definitely, short pasta wouldn’t be appropriate, and neither would egg noodles.

Even by sticking to spaghetti, most Italians have a preference of what thickness best suits this dish. Every brand has its own “units”, for instance in my family we’ve always preferred the thicker Barilla #7 (‘Spaghettoni’), whereas the most popular kind is the thinner #5.

Another fundamental choice that Italians make is whether or not to break the spaghetti in half before boiling them. Traditionally, pasta should never be cut – not before cooking it and especially never after it has been dished out. However, boiling 10 inch long noodles requires a particularly tall pot and breaking them in half may be practical.

As for the oil, extra virgin olive oil is a must for this dish. Other than being a vessel on which to carry the flavor of the pasta and the spiciness of the chilies, extra virgin olive oil brings its distinct aroma, which perfectly complements them.

The third and last ingredient, chili pepper, tops up the flavor profile with the simplest cooking trick: adding some heat! Any kind of chilies can be used, from a fresh cayenne pepper to dried flakes. It’s only important to get the desired amount of spiciness, which is usually medium-hot.

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino

Yield: 2 servings

Total Time: 15 minutes

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino

Ingredients

  • 150 g high quality dried spaghetti
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon dried chili flakes (or 1 fresh cayenne pepper*)
  • (optional) 2 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Preparation

  1. Start boiling the pasta in "abundant salty water" (fig.1).
  2. In a small pan, warm up the olive oil at medium heat for a minute.
  3. Add the crushed garlic and let it fry until it turns golden-brown (fig. 2).
    *If using a fresh cayenne pepper, it should be seeded and roasted along with the garlic and then also removed.
  4. Turn off the heat, discard the garlic and add the chili flakes (fig. 3).
  5. As soon as the pasta is cooked "al dente", drain it in a colander and toss it back in the empty pot.
  6. Pour in the garlic chili oil, quickly stir and dish the pasta into serving bowls.
  7. If desired, add the grated Parmigiano Reggiano and serve immediately.

https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2011/04/spaghetti-aglio-olio-e-peperoncino.html